


Today's Limits(Tomorrow's Victories)

by NebulaWrites



Series: MadaTobi Week 2018 [5]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kitsunes, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst?, Black Markets, Just bringing that up as a warning, Kakuzu is a long story but he's here, Kidnapping, M/M, No one actually gets sold on the black market, Tagging is hard at 5 am with no sleep!, There's a creepy child interested old guy in here, fluff at the end?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-27 07:17:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15680613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NebulaWrites/pseuds/NebulaWrites
Summary: Madara himself has been a victim to both of them, but that doesn't mean he disliked them. Quite the opposite, in fact, he adored little Obito – an orphan and the one who was good as his own child – and Kagami – curly-haired and always grinning in a way Madara wished he could – both of them were his family through and through. He would sooner die than let these two be ripped so cruelly from his life like so many others before them. Just like he had watched Tobirama be ripped away from him years ago by battle-crazed fathers and jealous family.





	Today's Limits(Tomorrow's Victories)

**Author's Note:**

> Out of context like this kind of is makes it rather confusing and out of place, but I still like this no matter what! I know I'm late with posting the last of the MadaTobi week and I blame myself for poor time management. Anyway, MadaTobi week's prompt 6 'to the victor go the spoils',

He despised this place.

Hated it deeply for the grief it has brought his clan by stealing away helpless children and selling them off so well their families had no hope of finding them again. _That_ is why he was here. Two children have gone missing, one of which is his cousin and the other being the child he took in to raise, and he was taking it a bit harshly because of that. The two boys were troublemakers in their own rights, both of them enjoying to pull pranks on their clan mates with no exceptions when it came to age or experience.

Madara himself has been a victim to both of them, but that doesn't mean he disliked them. Quite the opposite, in fact, he adored little Obito – an orphan and the one who was good as his own child – and Kagami – curly-haired and always grinning in a way Madara wished he could – both of them were his family through and through. He would sooner die than let these two be ripped so cruelly from his life like so many others before them. Just like he had watched Tobirama be ripped away from him years ago by battle-crazed fathers and jealous family.

Standing on the edge of the crowd, Madara tugs at his hood again before nudging Izuna pointedly when his brother's staring gets too noticeable. "We're trying to be subtle, Izuna, don't let your eyes linger too long." he hisses, reflexively drawing his tails closer when a large man walks behind him. The action gets him a slight glower from the tall eight-tailed kitsune – why someone so powerful was here in the black market with the obvious intentions of buying something was far beyond what Madara dared to contemplate. His brother looks at him with distress written clearly in his face, and Madara gives him a dubious look, muttering, "What's gotten into you? You've seen worse things on the battlefield."

"It's nothing…" Izuna sighs; clenching his jaw and returning his gaze to the covered boxes he had been staring at before Madara nudged him.

The Uchiha clan head sighs, rolling his eyes and perking up slightly as the crowd begins to murmur and shift in excitement as a woman steps up onto a large crate, her long hair catching the torchlight in interesting ways as her three thin tails wave along behind her. "Those interested in the auctions, gather around! Bidding starts in two minutes!" she calls, dropping down from the crate and coincidentally from Madara's sight as well. Without missing a beat, he begins to push his way forward, knowing Izuna was right behind him by the way someone kept brushing against his tails. The others around them seem to have been here enough to know what to do, in other words, the crowd thins out and backs away to leave just a few remaining next to the two Uchiha.

One was an obese woman with a gruff exterior, dark hair and eyes, and an absolutely tacky fashion sense. Another was a man, bearded, going white with beady green eyes and a smile that made Madara want to snarl and rip his throat out – after all that look definitely promised an unpleasant life for any child that fell within his grasp. All the others were young men or women who looked slightly out of the ordinary in a place like the black market. Izuna is all but on his tiptoes in a ready stance that made Madara half-heartedly concerned that his brother would be sticking out compared to everyone else.

Thankfully no one says anything and before Madara knows it the woman is back up on her crate, grinning in a wild sort of menace as two other women tug the covers from the boxes. From beside him, Izuna growls viciously as he grabs for a kunai, eyes bleeding into the red of the Sharingan and making Madara grab his arm sharply. But… He can understand Izuna's reaction.

In the closest cage – because now that the covers were removed he realized that those were not boxes as he first thought – there's a man in a ceremonial kimono, his singular black-and-white tail curled around the small child he was holding onto. _Senju Itama_ is staring frightfully out at the crowd, his dual-colored gaze skipping right over the two hooded Uchiha without recognizing them before looking back down at Kagami as the young kitsune whimpers in fear. "I _knew_ something wasn't right when I didn't get a response! Madara, I knew they took him!" Izuna grabs his arm and shakes him slightly, his eyes wild as he looks between Madara and Itama.

"You kept in touch with him? Even though you knew what Tajima-?"

"Tajima's years dead by now!" Izuna retorted viciously. "I've been in touch with Ita ever since Tajima was on his deathbed! But that doesn't matter, Madara, we _have_ to get him out of here!"

Madara carefully steals a look at the cowering Senju – who was _crying_ now that he looked again – before looking to the other cage, his heart leaping in elated joy because there was Obito, but plummeting in dread because _there was Obito_. Taking a breath that shakes in outrage when the elderly kitsune with green eyes makes an interested noise, mumbling to his companion about Obito – what he exactly says Madara doesn't catch, but whatever it was the Uchiha clan head was sure he would kill the man for it. "And the one with the boy, he's something to see too," the hostess with pink hair cuts in, offering a wicked smile to the man. "He has a bit of a tongue, but it's not too hard to get him to obey." Confused, Madara looks again and nearly chokes on nothing when he sees a head of white hair ducked down to comfort Obito.

No, he thinks, there's no way it's who he thinks it is.

Seeming to feel that he was being watched, Tobirama lifts his head and narrows his eyes at Madara, baring his teeth a little as his gaze switches to the ones staring at Obito. "I start the bidding for the one with a single tail," the corpulent woman cuts in suddenly, completely disregarding the way Izuna snarls at her. "Ten."

"Twenty-five for the young one with the white kitsune."

Immediately at the statement, Madara glares at the man, growling low in his throat. "A million for all of them." He spits, switching his glare to the main hostess when she splutters, going pale in the face when the beady-eyed man scoffs disdainfully.

"Five million for the child and I do believe that means it's an auto-buy." The hostess fans herself with her hand as she starts towards the cage causing Obito to shrink into Tobirama's hold fearfully. The two-tailed kitsune glares at her, wrapping Obito tighter in his arms and trashing his tails like a fussy cat.

"Out, boy," the three-tailed satori orders, scowling when Tobirama turns to move Obito away from her.

"Over my dead body!" the Senju snaps, nudging Obito into a corner and placing himself in front of the boy, glaring daggers at the hostesses as the sandy blonde and the one with pink hair join her. From next to Madara, the man mentions in boredom that he doesn't have all day and that he would like to get Obito settled into his new home as quickly as possible.

Izuna tugs at his sleeve and the older five-tailed kitsune spares a quick look at his brother. "Black market," Izuna hisses, eyes holding a light that promises danger and bloodshed. "Underground. Move aside." Simply out of curiosity as to what the other was planning, Madara moves out of the way and jumps when Izuna immediately lashes out with a kunai, slitting the elderly kitsune's throat in a well-practiced slice. "Good riddance!" Izuna huffs as he straightens up, turning to Madara while the few women in the group aside from the hostesses scream in fright, scrambling to get away from the body as it collapses and when Madara looks Tobirama's eyes are as wide as moons.

With a click of her tongue, the main hostess stares at the body before sighing heavily. "Brawl at auctions with four kitsunes on the line! To the victor goes the spoils!" she shouts, sauntering towards the two Uchiha and holding her hand out, an eyebrow raised expectantly. "No cloaks, if you wish to join for the spoils you hand them over to me."

Before Izuna can even so much as reach for the clasp of his cloak, Madara firmly pushes his brother back as he sheds his, draping it over the woman's hand with a raised brow. "He won't be joining," he says to her before raising his voice enough to be sure the caged kitsunes could hear him. "And ready them to leave with us, there will be no other winner."

From inside his cage, Obito wails – the sound being half-way between joyous and utterly broken – as he tries to move around Tobirama, who quickly catches the young kitsune in his arms. Madara can feel the way his resolve solidifies at the scene, determined to get Obito out of here and home as soon as possible. Of the mere handful that gathers to join the fight, only one entirely bothers the Uchiha clan head.

The eight-tailed kitsune from earlier is pacing around the edges of the circle drawn to mark the out of bounds line, eerie green eyes watchful and the lowest thing visible on his face as a mask hides his mouth, nose, and cheeks. Madara is careful to watch the stronger kitsune at all times, not bothering to be subtle with it either as he turns to face him whenever he nears the edges of Madara's vision. "What's the matter, Uchiha?" the dark-haired kitsune asked with a rumble, stopping to narrow his eyes at Madara – who notes that the whites of his eyes weren't white at all, instead they were a muted red color that sent shivers down Madara's spine.

"You recognize my heritage?" he offers instead of answering, hoping faintly that the tales of his clan might scare this… _beast_ away from the fight.

"I recognize your companion's Sharingan, and your appearance fits that of the bounty for Uchiha Madara. I don't just recognize your heritage, idiot, I recognize _you_."

That… was more chilling than it had any right to be. Madara clenches his teeth, stomping down the urge to puff up the way he wanted to from the other kitsune's presence in general. Something catches his eye when the torchlight reveals the colors of the kitsune's eight tails. Only _four_ of them matched the color of his hair, the others were varying shades of grays and blacks that all but _screamed_ tail theft.

Such a thing wasn't unheard of, stealing a kitsune's tail and attaching it to another by the usage of a strong influx of chakra and an even stronger influx of magic.

"Oh? What does a tail thief like yourself need to recognize me for?" Madara taunts – a knee-jerk reaction to the anger bubbling up inside his chest – and eerie eyes turning absolutely murderous is the only warning Madara gets before the eight-tailed kitsune hurls himself towards the Uchiha clan head with his killing intent all but poisoning the air around them. The world bleeds into hyper focus without him even thinking about it, and Madara knocks away the knife-hand blow that promised to be devastating if it landed.

Madara has trained with his Sharingan for years, _decades_ truthfully, so it's automatic to take in the smaller details about this man – taller than Madara, but leaner in a way that speaks of both speed training and starvation – who holds himself in a way of confidence, ready for anything Madara could throw at him. It's the smallest sliver of doubt in his eyes that makes Madara curious but doesn't stop him as he lunges forward with his hand grabbing for a kunai. He quickly brings the kunai to the lead, hoping to use the direct attack to test the other's immediate response before he nearly jumps out of his skin when Tobirama shouts.

"That's enough, stop!"

"Kakuzu, don't hurt him!" Itama wails as the ground breaks audibly behind him, and Madara looks over his shoulder in surprise to see an arm – approximately from the fingertips to the middle of the forearm – being held by a large seven-tailed kitsune. The dark tendrils leading from the arm and into the ground makes Madara shudder, looking back at his brief opponent in a mixture of horror and sheer, disgusted surprise.

Senju Hashirama steps around Madara to place his hands on the shoulders of the eight-tailed kitsune, who immediately looks away in a huff. Because outside of confrontation this is the first time he's been even slightly close to Hashirama, Madara chooses to ignore the Senju clan head in favor of noting that the majority of the others around them were unconscious on the ground. Of the seven others still coherent, only Izuna wasn't a Senju, which leads Madara to believe-.

"Mada!"

Obito.

His train of thought shuts down at the voice and he whips around. It's habit to crouch down at the pet name, reflex to catch Obito in his arms and stand holding the young kitsune to his chest as tightly as he dared while tiny hands tangle into the wild mane that was his hair. "Obito," Madara breathes, all the tension that's been building ever since Obito had failed to come home for dinner three days ago leaving him in a rush as he combs his fingers through familiar, fuzzy hair before he cradles the back of Obito's head with that same hand. "Thank the gods. Thank _Kurama_! You're safe; I'll take you home I promise. This won't happen again, I won't let it!"

A sliver of white flickers in the corner of his eye and Madara turns to follow it with his gaze, an infatuation – a _love_ – from years ago rising like the tide to make him cross the distance between himself and Tobirama in a few swift steps. "Are you okay?" he demands, smirking faintly at the way it makes Tobirama twitch and whip around from the conversation he was having with the Senju kunoichi who's hair was in a topknot. Red eyes blink rapidly before flickering down to study the way Obito was clinging to Madara.

"Fine, kidnapping begins to lose its effect around the third time it has happened." Tobirama murmured. "How is he taking it?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Madara admits and wishes he were joking, but he can already feel drool seeping through the material of his shirt. "He's out like a light, but from what I've seen he could be doing worse. I suppose I have you to thank for that. And I do, Obito means worlds to me."

The two-tailed kitsune huffs slightly, averting his gaze in the way that meant he was flustered and didn't know what to do about it. Madara is amazed that he can still recognize such a reaction. "You don't need to do anything of the sort, I'm just glad that I could help." Red eyes flicker back to Obito briefly before looking elsewhere once more as he says, "He's stronger than one would assume, he's been raised well."

The Uchiha clan head has all of five seconds to feel proud before their brothers hurry over, cutting into their conversation even as Hashirama cries out in what was probably dismay. "Do you realize how insane you are trying to fight Kakuzu?" Itama squeaks, flailing his arms in a panic before he flings himself at Madara, careful to not stir Obito as he hugs the wild-haired kitsune. Izuna and Tobirama look amused as the tiny Senju begins to mumble into the fabric of Madara's shirt – only possible because of his unconscious habit to shift Obito to one side whenever holding him. Bewildered, he looks at Tobirama for clarification and scowls when he only gets a snort of laughter.

Izuna is just as unhelpful, moving closer to drape his arms around both Madara and Itama, cooing about something love-y and mushy and definitely something Madara tunes out as a reflex. "Anija," Tobirama greets suddenly – voice entirely bland and lightly laced with venom that only he and Itama seem to pick out. "Infiltrating the black market. Isn't that rather careless?"

Whining in a way that spoke of this being a usual thing, Hashirama literally pouts as he tries – and fails – to catch the two-tailed kitsune in a hug. "We had to do it! You two got _caught_ what else could we have done?!" a voice exclaims as a vaguely familiar four-tailed kitsune places himself between Hashirama and the eight-tailed Kakuzu, dark eyes holding Tobirama's ruby red ones.

"You could have kept your nose out of it?" Tobirama suggests blankly, crossing his arms over his chest and glowering at the two larger kitsunes. "But that would imply that I thought you would keep your nose out of things, Kawarama, but you proved to me long ago that is not the case."

"I'm _starving_ , how is Bito sleeping? He hasn't eaten in days!" Kagami announces loudly, grabbing Madara's hand as Itama finally deigns to step back. A little aggrieved, Madara whacks his youngest cousin on the back of the head – lightly seeing as Kagami has been through enough the last few days – and lifts his gaze in time to notice the 'x' shaped scar on Kawarama's cheek. A memory long since buried rises unbidden, and Madara has to grit his teeth as he matches the scar to the one on the cheek of the boy who had come with Butsuma to gather Tobirama and Itama that fateful day just as Hikaku had.

Swallowing the anger that's sitting in his throat, Madara clears his throat pointedly to stop the bickering that the four Senju brothers have started, unintentionally catching Tobirama's gaze and finding himself unable to break it. "It's late, and the boys are tired and hungry," he finds himself telling Tobirama instead of everyone like he means to. "We should be on our way, home is farther away than I would like."

"You can stay at our compound for the night," Hashirama suggests merrily, grinning even as Kakuzu makes a derisive sound. "Madara, you and I have the ability to stop the fighting between our clans. If we can prove to our clans that we can be in harmony for even one night then it's a little jump from there to peace."

It takes some effort, but Madara drags his gaze from Tobirama to eyeball the Senju clan head like he was insane. Four Uchiha staying in the Senju compound – the Uchiha _clan head_ staying in the Senju compound with his son, brother and youngest cousin – would most definitely not be seen as the kindness Hashirama meant it to be. "Are you going to continue fighting, Mada..?" Obito asks quietly into his shoulder, and Madara swears his heart stops at the sheer disappointed worry in Obito's voice. "I don't want you to. You'll go away like everyone else," the young kitsune continues, tightening his hold on Madara. "Don't leave me too, Mada."

Madara takes his next breath carefully, forcing it to come steadily despite feeling like he wanted to tremble. "Thank you," he gets out, dipping his head to Hashirama. "I hope that what you've said is true." The big man beams, clapping Madara on the shoulder before ducking the swipe from Kakuzu without ever losing his smile. Gracefully, Tobirama steps around the two large kitsunes to carefully guide the Uchiha a few steps away from where Kakuzu was beginning to bristle in anger.

"Those two can catch up. They might resort to things that none of us wish to see." Tobirama said, motioning Itama and Izuna over with a light wave of his arm. Somewhere between amused and undeniably horrified, Madara takes one last glance over at Hashirama and his companion before promptly turning to follow the Senju kunoichi, who brushes by Itama to take the lead. Tobirama seems to be content with walking at Madara's side, hands already tucked into the billowing sleeves of his ceremonial kimono as he moves silently. It doesn't actually take too long to get back into shinobi lands, and it's here when Tobirama finally seems to get fed up with their traveling, scowling at every jab Kawarama or the kunoichi aim at him.

The Uchiha clan head smiles to himself, hiding it in Obito's hair as he watches each minute twitch in Tobirama's expression, each little change that he's surprised that he remembers. "-and there was this _big_ tree! It was hu-! _Holy shit_!" Kagami breaks off from whatever story he was telling to Itama in favor of gaping at the Senju compound, waving his arms excitedly as he jumps from one foot to the other.

"Kagami!" Madara snaps, already feeling the oncoming wrath from the boy's mother when she learns about Kagami's exclamation. Not that he could quite _blame_ him seeing as the Senju compound was definitely not what he expected. As they step inside the looming walls of the compound, Madara finds himself absolutely stunned by it all – the plant life, the sheer amount of people, the surprised yet not hostile looks they were getting – and it's clear it must show on his face by the way Tobirama snorts. With no little to no fanfare, the majority of the Senju in their little group split off and head in different directions, leaving Itama, Tobirama, and Kawarama with the four Uchiha.

Kawarama grins a little, offering them a wave as he begins to back away. From beside Madara, Tobirama rolls his eyes with a faint scoff, waving Kawarama off before he stops and turns to Madara. "Anija's house might not entirely be the best place if you're wanting to get a full night of sleep," the white-haired kitsune admits. "Kawarama's either. Itama and I have a home we share on the edge of the compound, so if you'll follow me seeing as Itama and Izuna have already run off somewhere."

Madara blinks, looking around quickly and distantly compliments Itama's ability to slip off without being noticed. Since as there's no other way he would find Tobirama's home, he grabs Kagami's hand – ignoring the whine of complaint it gets him from his cousin – and follows obediently when the two-tailed kitsune begins to walk again. It was surprisingly easy to get Obito and Kagami to settle in for the night, and it was probably a good thing too. Madara takes a long slow breath as he gladly takes the cup of tea placed on the table before Tobirama sinks down across from him.

The Senju's house is just the right size for its usual two occupants, filled with beautiful blooming plants and bookshelves galore – it's exactly the type of home he would have expected either Tobirama or Itama owning. "So are you really considering the peace Anija offered? Or did you just agree to stay here in order to soothe your son?" Tobirama asks, curling his hands around his cup as Madara takes a drink from his own.

"Peace is long overdue," the wild-haired Uchiha tells his companion, sighing a little. "I was going to consider your brother's offers even if they had at a different place or time. Obito's interjection just solidified my reasons to do so sooner."

"His mother is a lucky woman…"

Freezing, Madara blinks in absolute confusion before he looks at Tobirama with a tilt of his head. "Pardon?" he manages to get out.

Tobirama looked away as color spread across his cheeks – a faint dusting of pink that was utterly adorable and truly unfair to Madara's unexpecting heart. "His mother," the Senju repeats. "She's a very lucky woman to be clan head's wife-."

"You think Mads is _married_?!" Izuna cuts in out of nowhere with laughter in his voice as Itama – looking fairly ruffled and faintly debauched in a way that makes Tobirama's eyes narrow sharply – tries to pull him down the hall. "He's been too busy pining after y-!"

Itama very wisely keeps a solid hold on Izuna's robes, occupying Izuna's mouth with his own to keep the younger Uchiha from saying anything else to anger the seated five-tailed kitsune as they flee down the hall to escape Madara's steadily growing killing intent. Across from him, Tobirama is a little wide-eyed, staring at Madara in open surprise. "I adopted Obito soon after he lost his grandmother," Madara confesses when he finally gets himself under control, carefully placing his cup onto the table in fear of crushing it in his hands. "And marriage has never interested me if it wasn't-." He flounders, failing to come up with the words to accurately describe why he hadn't married yet.

Tobirama quirks one perfectly thin eyebrow as he hides the lower half of his face with his hands and cup, watching Madara with brightly curious red eyes. The way his heart begins to flip-flop in his chest is entirely, truly unnecessary in the situation as he swallows hard, risking a glance to anywhere that wasn't the kitsune across from him. How could one come out of this situation and not seem desperate yet still tell the truth, Madara wonders as he clears his throat faintly. The thought of seeing anyone else had felt like a betrayal of his feelings for Tobirama, and the thought of marrying someone for the sake of his title left a bad taste in his mouth. "You know." Madara settles with finally in lieu of anything else to say, hoping that the subject would just be dropped. Apparently, Tobirama either doesn't catch the implication or doesn't care as he tips his head to the side, eyes shining in the way that said he was smirking. 

"That you still have difficulty expressing your thoughts amazes me, Madara." the other says in plain amusement, setting his cup down to reveal that he was indeed smirking like Madara had guessed. Scowling at the jab, he gets his hands on the corners of the table and leans forward to demand what was so funny to the two-tailed kitsune. The only answer he gets is a laugh – low and just this side of aggravating – as Tobirama picks himself up, saying that he intended to get some rest. "The second room on the right is open if you wish, or if you would rather sleep with me I would not object."

Something like surprise flickers through Madara as he stares at the white-tailed kitsune, who stares right back without so much as blinking. Eventually, he manages to break their trance by letting out an involuntary wheeze and manages to say, "What kind of fool do you take me as?"

It earns him another smirk, and Tobirama shifts his weight to one side as he cocks his hips. "I'll lay out another futon next to mine, then," the other says before turning and heading down the hall. "The door will be open."

Madara blinks slowly, breathing out sharply in amusement as he lets his head drop briefly. It would seem he wasn’t the only one of them to hold onto his feelings. The wild-haired Uchiha pushes himself to his feet, smiling to himself as he picks his way down the hallway – letting his steps have sound even though he knows full well he didn’t need to if Tobirama was expecting him. As Tobirama had said, the door was open just enough to be noticed by someone who was looking for it and Madara wasted no time in hesitating, simply stepping into the room. The two-tailed kitsune glances over his shoulder, giving Madara a flash of a smile before turning back to the futon he was laying out.

“You had me doubting myself for a moment.” Tobirama murmurs.

With a huff, Madara steps up behind the younger kitsune, kneeling down and wrapping his arms around his chest. “Don’t doubt,” he mumbles, resting his forehead against Tobirama’s spine. Tobirama, as ever, seems to understand exactly what he means, and chuckles, bringing up one hand to capture one of Madara’s and tangling their fingers.

Peace was looking more possible by the second.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed! Thanks for the read~!


End file.
